The War Has Begun
by Sketty24
Summary: Whilst strange signals come from the ruins of Alkali Lake, the Government declare an all out war on mutants. All mutants are wanted. Exactly what Magneto feared. Personal problems also: Gambit's having trouble with a relationship that's not even his own.
1. A Force

It's up, everyone! Story FIVE! Got a fantastic plot lined up for this, quite different to the others but certainly not lacking in all departments. Action, romance and drama galore in this new packed story!

**NEW TO THE SAGA?**  
Now, if you're new to this saga, then you may wish to go back and read the first four stories for the required background information. However, you are welcome to read on without. There are summaries for each story on my website. Click on previous stories so you can read up **without having to read for all the background info** (although I advise you do! They are good! Lol.)

The homepage of the site, however, is complete. New layout too! Hints of new characters and the future plot! My images of my characters represented perfectly in the forms of two well-respected actresses.

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**- CHAPTER ONE -  
A Force**

Logan glared out of the window as he stood in Professor Xavier's office. The mutants had only been back in Westchester for a week and luckily, nothing out of the ordinary had happened. That was, of course, until Charles telepathically asked them all to join him in his office. Logan, who had been enjoying the quiet week, had a scowl on his face the instant he walked through the door. He had slouched off to one side of the room, and had remained there since.

There was a weak morning sunshine spilling from the large windows of the office. A fresh, crisp air was in the room, coming natural with spring. The soft rays of light illuminated portions of the royal blue carpet and the surface of the dark polished desk that Charles sat behind. As well as Logan, the rest of the X-Men had joined, standing together as opposed to Logan's skulking figure in front of the sun-washed window. Storm, Gambit, Aurora, Scott and Siren stood in front of the Professor's desk.

"Thank you for coming so quickly," said Charles politely as he bowed his head, "Please, take a seat if you prefer."

The group scattered to the two sofas in the room whilst Gambit settled himself in an armchair besides the desk. Logan cast a momentary glare down at Scott and Siren as he sat in the sofa he was leaning his hands upon the top of. He lifted his hands away and continued to prowl back and forth in the small space between the bay window and the seating.

"It is nothing too alarming, so you may alleviate such worries." Charles said quietly as he steepled his fingers tips. He poised them in front of his chin thoughtfully as he watched what appeared to be a collective sigh of relief from the team. "This morning I was observing worldly activity through Cerebro as normal to keep a check on any events that may require our assistance and managed to picked up some very strong telepathic signals from the ruins of Alkali Lake."

The relief in the room seemed to be sucked back in, as almost everyone in the room took a sharp breath and gasped.

A tense silence had come into the room and it seemed to difficult to break. But Storm spoke, although quietly, "But, Professor.. no one has been near Alkali Lake since.. what happened." She glanced across the room to Scott; whose lips had suddenly gone very thing and his jaw was set stiffly. Siren looked round to him, placing a hand on his knee.

"I understand that, Ororo," came the response from Charles, "All the more reasons for my concerns and undoubted curiosity. I can only imagine it to be some type of mutant activity. What makes it so peculiar is how it is the very same power Jean had."

Scott's head dipped in a reluctant little nod. His arms had folded and the forefinger of his curled fist was pressed against his lips tightly.

Charles lowered his hands, regarding the room with a stern expression that still managed to hold the soothing composure inside his cerulean eyes, "Whilst I do not wish to elevate any false hope, I do believe this needs to be investigated. Normally, I would not be so urgent as to inform all of you. But somehow, I feel some sort of connection to the phenomenon that occurred in the Amazon," his eyes settled upon Scott. "The unexplained force that occurred there may have some link to the same energy I am reading that is active at Alkali Lake."

Logan leant down on the back of the sofa again, securing his tight grip on the panel of wood that frame the luxurious seating. He knew his grip was nothing about stability, "You sayin' we gotta go back there?"

"It shouldn't be a dangerous mission, so not all of you need to go. Of course, I understand if some more than others may wish to stay away," Charles's eyes travelled upon Scott again. "I contacted an old friend a short while ago, Emma Frost, asking her views on the matter. She too is a powerful telepath. Of course, her powers in comparison to a fully active Cerebro are minor, but if she was picking up something, just anything, it would mean it was an undoubtedly powerful signal being produced from the ruins."

Out of the entire X-Men, only one of the people in the room reacted to the information. Whilst the others listened with interest, Scott, already looking distressed at being reminded about his fiancé's death, leaned forward and covered his face with his hands. Siren looked perplexed, but just lay a comforting arm on his shoulder.

Charles had a regretful look on his face, as though he had something he would he'd had said different. Or at least, phrased it more delicately. "As I said, you are not all required. I'd say four would be sufficient. Scott, do you wish to stay behind?" Scott glanced up slowly as he was spoken directly to. But before a response could come out of him, Charles had quickly spoken. "We will not think any less of you."

At these words of encouragement, Scott bowed his head, "I'd like to opt out of this mission, Professor."

Charles did not look at all surprised. He just nodded his head one in understanding, "Of course," he turned his head to look towards Storm, his second-in-command, "Ororo?"

"I'll be fine, Professor," said Storm gently, "Naturally, I'll lead the investigation since Scott had stepped down."

Charles glanced over the rest of the room, whilst he knew Gambit and Siren may be uncomfortable visiting the place, he knew that directly they had not dealt with the horrors there. If they didn't want to go, they would say so, "Aurora, Wolverine? Are either of you willing to go?"

"I'll go," grunted Logan, not particularly sure why he was agreeing to it. It was just a natural reaction out of him, like instinct. Plus he knew, deep down inside that he wanted answers himself. If the force that saved Scott and that had been communicating inside his head was also the same one that was in Canada, then it would reveal some very interesting connections.

Aurora however, looked a little more hesitant. And it was no wonder. Fifteen years of her life she had been trapped inside that, to be freed only when the dam burst on the X-Men, "Depends if Siren and Gambit are going. That would make four."

"We'll go, hun," said Siren softly as she nodded over to Aurora, "It's alright, you can stay here." Aurora looked across to Gambit for confirmation and the Cajun nodded his head sagely without saying a word.

"Very well," said Charles, "Storm, Wolverine, Siren and Gambit. I believe it would be better if you were to leave as soon as possible. I will be following your progress with Cerebro and will guide you to the source of the signal." He cast one last look around the room before he bowed his head, "Meeting adjourned, X-Men." He pushed his chair back from the desk as he wheeled out from behind it to follow the mutants out. "Good luck."

* * *

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	2. What Was Left Behind

Seven reviewers! A fantastic turn out so thank you very much for doing so! Without further ado, here is the next chapter!

**- CHAPTER TWO -**

**What Was Left Behind**

The sounds of zips squeaked quietly through the changing area as the four X-Men dressed in their uniforms. Wolverine and Storm had already departed from the room and had left the siblings alone. Gambit pressed his staff into his belt as he watched Siren pull on her gloves. She was stood with her back to him and continued to close the fastenings at her wrist. Gambit secured his staff before he let his brown trench coat fall closed over his hips.

Then, suddenly, Siren spoke, "You've been staring at me for the past five minutes. Is there a reason for this? It's unhealthy to look at a member of family like that." She peered at him over her shoulder with a jovial grin on her face, "Come on, _frère_. I can tell when there's something a matter."

Gambit gave a small smile in response, rolling his shoulders in a shrug, "Nah, chere. Gambit was jus' thinkin'. Jus' a lil worried about ya that's all."

This made Siren turn to face him. She cast him a quizzical expression before she raised her hands and placed them at the hips of her black uniform, pushing the opening of her forest green trench coat back. "Why?" she asked quietly, regarding Gambit with her bright green eyes.

Gambit shrugged his shoulders uncomfortably, "You and Cyclops," he muttered quietly.

"Yes?" Siren pressed on with a warning tone coming into her voice.

"I don't know.. there's jus' somethin' about him that makes me feel all jumpy, Adrienne. Like I shouldn't trust him or somethin'."

"Well he's done nothing to prove that he is untrustworthy. He leads the X-Men, Gambit, surely Charles values him." When Gambit gave no reply, Siren sighed quietly, "You're probably just wanting to look out for me. But there's no need, all right? I'm fine and I couldn't be happier with Scott by my side."

"So ya relationship's official then?"

Siren gave Gambit an alluring smirk. She stepped forth to slip out of the door into the Jet Hangar, "Isn't it obvious? Not all broadcasting is vocal, Remy."

Gambit hurried over to the door, entering the Jet Hangar himself. "Yeah well, we'll talk about this when we get back," he called as he quickly descended the metal steps to the ground of the hangar.

Siren, who was climbing the steps into the Jet, cast Gambit a shrewd look, as she paused, "No.. because there is nothing to discuss." She disappeared into the Jet with a swish of her trench coat.

* * *

Clouds gently streamed by the windscreen of the Jet as it flew with incredible speeds across the bright sky. As fast as it was going, it was a smooth and graceful ride as always. However, the atmosphere inside the jet was tense and the four X-Men were sat in silence. It was no wonder. Alkali Lake didn't hold the best of memories of any mutants. Regardless of whether they were there when the dam burst. For that had been the first Government move of human retaliation against mutants. William Stryker had scratched the surface of a war that was just waiting to happen. The recent months of conflict between the X-Men and humans in particular was not helping matters. There was only so much tension laws could take before they were to be removed and changed.. for the worse.

A while into the journey, Storm spoke up from the pilot seat, "We're coming up upon Alkali Lake now. There's a clearing for me to land the Jet." Below them lay the startling white landscape of Canada. A gleaming strip of cold grey marked the lake of water that had burst from the Dam so long ago. It had settled to cause a permanent lake between the two slopes, which were vacant of many trees since they had been wiped out by the initial burst. This meant there was plenty of space to land the Jet, unlike before.

The X-Men held on as the Jet slowly descended upon the scene. It didn't take long for it's feet to make contact with the snow, and with a slight bump, it landed in the thick snow. Storm was the first to unfasten her seatbelt and rose to her feet to stare out of the window and across the lake that lay before them. Dark grey ruins stood broken further along - the original walls of the dam. Siren had moved towards a small console on the wall and had turned on the sound. Charles Xavier's voice filled the quiet Jet.

"Glad to see you arrived safely, X-Men. I have been monitoring the area with Cerebro whilst you were travelling and the output of the energy has not wavered once. From telepathic rebound sensed there, it appears some portions of the dam are still standing below the ground. Perhaps if you find the entrance you should take a look inside. Of course, if you feel up to the task, if not, scour the bankings and nearby woodland."

"We'll report to you when we get back the jet," said Siren into the mouthpiece she held on the headset.

"Very well. Good luck." And the signal turned off. Siren rose to her feet slowly as glanced around the Jet. The others were all looking a little hesitant to travel down the stairs that had just lowered. But Wolverine made a quiet grunt, cracked his neck and walked forth, walking quickly down the steps. With his lead, the rest followed.

* * *

The X-Men trekked through the thick snow at a slow rate. Because their walking took such effort they were covering less ground in the time they had. Wolverine was guiding them across the harrowingly barren landscape. The steel grey water lapped morosely beside their trail as they passed upon the sloping banking. The sheet of snow below them glared a blinding brilliant white from the shine of the overhead sun and it made the travelling all the more difficult for the mutants. But Logan continued to lead them towards where the dam once stood, now nothing but broken remains that had since been dotted by snow.

A small slope meandered by a naked fallen log and dipped into a small groove. Quick to spot this, Logan hurried on down over the snow, which flushed away it's powdery substance below his boots as he made his way down. Snow had built up against a square alcove in the ruins of the dam wall. Logan extended his hands and began to pull away the clumps of snow there. Getting the idea, the other X-Men moved forward and in silence the four scrabbled at the wall to dig away the built up snow. With their faces cold and numb, and their gloves wet, the X-Men eventually stopped as a door was revealed in the stonework. Logan glanced across at the others before his eyes met Storm. As leader, she stepped forth to the door, watching it carefully. Her shivering hands clasped the large metal handle slowly before she pulled it back. It scraped against the shallow snow that was left and pulled open so far before it got wedged in the pile. The gap was big enough to enter through, but first, Storm peered inside hesitantly.

With everything all clear, Storm slipped inside, beckoning her team to follow her. Within was a bare walled room which ceiling sloped beneath the surface of the earth. The foundations were cracked from the battering of the dam's previous unleash but it had still remained intact. The stone walls were a ghostly green, the only light being the reflected surface of the snow through the gap of the opened door. Cautiously, Siren walked forward, her boots sounding quiet echoing steps as she walked across the cold stone floor. Then suddenly a series of cracks sounded followed by a brutal snap. Siren quickly stopped walking and looked down. Rubble and dirt was below her feet, as well as shards of broken glass. She looked up slowly, peering through the darkness of the corridor like room. She extended a hand slowly as she looked curiously at the supporting column in front of her. Slowly her gloved fingertips ran down the rough surface and across a broken bracket on the wall followed by a groove of smashed rubble. She turned slowly, staring around at the broken debris that was scattered, mixtures of glass, metal pipes and scraps of ruined equipment.

"This wasn't even touched by the flood," she whispered softly, her eyes rising to look at the rest of the mutants, "what happened here?"

Logan slowly looked around at the wall that was nearest to him. His hand outstretched and he slowly brushed his fingers across three sharp grooves scarring the wall, "Me.."

Siren and Gambit both quickly stared at him with shocked expressions on their faces. They had only briefly heard of Logan's past. They never truly realised the horrendous carnage it was. A tense silence continued, only briefly broken as Storm walked over to Logan and placed a comforting hand on his arm. Logan slowly glanced to her, taking her smaller hand in his as he gave it a squeeze. He was about to speak to the group, when something caught his attention. It was a disturbance in the air, like a gleam of faint light. Then Logan felt a warm touch of a hand against his cheek, and with a gentle and tender motion, it pressed up against his jaw so his head was pushed back slightly and his eyes met the ceiling.

Immediately, the warm sensation vanished to be replaced by a flood of icy dread in the pit of his stomach, which clenched in a sudden panic. One of the columns that supported the roof under the colossal dam water was cracked and splintered. One crack weaved down the centre before breaking over to a sharp right. Bits of unfrozen dust spilt from it in a gentle cloud. Recent movement. Logan's hand unexpectedly tightened on Storm's hand.

"Everybody get outta here."

"Why?"

"The ceiling's gonna go. Move it!"

The four mutants burst into action, charging with desperation towards the door. Logan hung back, letting the other three out first. Out of all of them, he was the most likely to survive if it collapsed. Logan squeezed himself out lastly and sprinted up the slope of powdery slope after the X-Men.

"Make high ground!" he heard Gambit cry ahead of him, "Get away from the bankin'!"

With panting breaths, the X-Men scrambled up the mound of the banking, pulling on sparse tree trunks as leverage to help them move quicker. Behind them there was an almighty rumble followed by a deafening explosion. The snowy banking suddenly gushed towards the facility entrance and the water of the lake churned madly into the ground as the ceiling caved in. The force of the water reared angrily up the steep banking, throwing stone ruins upwards fiercely. The water tips tickled Logan's heels as he slipped on the sinking banking. As he lurched he was quickly pulled up by Storm and Gambit into the safety of the higher ground.

Logan quickly span his head round as he staggered to a halt, staring with heavy gasps of cold breath as he watched the lake slowly still once more as the water and the snow met once more to cover any evidence that there once was an entrance.

"Is everyone alright?" asked Siren, sounding shaken.

There was a general murmur of confirmation from Storm and Gambit, but Logan was still watching the lake surface with a pained looked in his eyes as he heavily breathed mists of air. This place held many bad memories for him, not just Stryker, but Jean too. And seeing the water's angry swirling wrath as it destroyed the standing remains only reminded him of the plummet of the dam, and how it took Jean's life. The sunlight still shone brightly across the lake surface, glimmering with such a pure innocence on a place that was scarred with invisible bloodshed. But it was then that Logan noticed in the very centre of the lake, the surface was somehow gleaming brighter. And it didn't seem to be the reflection of the sun. In fact, it seemed to be below the surface.

He had just motioned to tell the others this when there was an echoing crash of water, and Logan jerked, thinking something else had caved in. but in fact, the spot where there was light had just rose upwards. Something was exiting amongst the fountain like spurt that was falling back to the water once more. An undistinguishable shape, glowing with a heavenly light had just burst from the water surface and was flying directly upwards into the sky with trails of dancing flames. It moved so fast, that within seconds it had vanished into the clouds above.

Everyone stood in a stunned silence.

"What was that?" breathed Siren.

"I don't know," murmured Storm as she began to move. "Let's get back to the jet; we need to report to Charles. It could be the force he was reading in Cerebro.."

As the three began to descend the slope to make their way back to the jet, Logan stood staring at the sky where the fiery figure had vanished. A voice sounded across his head as he recalled something from a dream..

"_I am currently not strong enough to take a physical form in the real world. I am growing stronger Wolverine, one day you will meet me in your dimension."_

It was all connected.. it had to be. The being that had been helping him, that had been following his daily life, the force that had rescued Scott and the one that was apparent here had to be the same thing.

And whatever it was. It was stronger than ever before..

* * *

Thank you for reading the chapter. Got a bit of action there didn't you? Lovely jubbly. Please review!  
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	3. Time is Precious

Aw, now only two reviewers! Where did everyone else go? But Blix and Racetrack's Goil, thanks very much. At least some people are sticking with me!

**- CHAPTER THREE -**

**Time is Precious**

Upon returning to the mansion, Storm, Siren and Gambit had immediately gone to the Professor in his office to discuss the occurrences at Alkali Lake. Logan, refusing point blank, had stalked off the minute he was out of uniform. He knew they could tell Charles everything without him being there. Plus he wasn't in the mood to sit in the Professor's office and talk for an hour. Logan had a lot of thoughts to be brooding over, including those of his latest trip to Alkali Lake. For some reason, he didn't feel compelled to tell Charles or the other X-Men his thoughts on the possible connections. It probably wouldn't make much difference if he did. And if he did tell, he'd have to retell it several times to the others who missed out on certain points, and Logan wasn't one to put himself up for such hassle.

He was so deep in this ongoing thoughts he didn't realise he was about to bump, quite literally, into Aurora who was walking the other way, also appearing consumed by thoughts. Just as they were a few feet from each other, the bell chimed through the corridors to signal the end of class, and instantly, echoes of scraping chairs and chatters started, with footfalls beginning to rumble. Both Logan and Aurora looked up, each sharing a look of surprise to find themselves stood in front of each other. Aurora opened her mouth to say something, but a door on the other side of the corridor had just opened and a throng of students was milling out.

Before Logan realised what was happening, Aurora had grabbed him by the upper arm, wrenched open a door besides her and steered him in with the door slamming behind their entry. Wherever she had brought him, they were stood in blackness. He heard her shuffle around in the darkness for a moment before something clicked and a light came on above them. It was only a bare bulb, and the light was so weak it was only a small improvement. But at least they could see better now. The light revealed that they were stood in a small narrow storage cupboard, with shelves of textbooks and other classroom equipment. With the room windowless, and a solid door the only entry, the room was naturally dark without the light.

Logan, who did not approve of being dragged into storage cupboards, cast a surly glare down at the woman. Surprisingly, Aurora gave him an equal glare back, as though it was her who had just been snatched out of the corridor. Outside the door, the rumbling of passing crowds was still active.

"I want to talk to you," said Aurora, placing her hands on her hips as she held her head high.

"In a storage cupboard," replied Logan dully.

"Well I didn't think it was a conversation everyone else should hear."

Logan gave a rough grunt and folded his arms, leaning back on the shelf behind him. He hadn't spoken alone with Aurora since he saw her suspiciously exiting Gambit's bedroom a few weeks ago and their conversation then had left bitterness in both even though they had not been together at the time. "Talk, then," snapped Logan grouchily.

Aurora stood quiet for a moment, watching Logan with careful eyes, "I've been wondering what has been happening about our relationship.. after all the trouble we've had." Logan's eyed were burning through her now. "You were right before, none of this would have happened if it wasn't for Gambit." There was a certain tone of dissent as she spoke the Cajun's name. Logan still hadn't spoken or moved to interrupt her, so Aurora continued on, "He was purposely trying to split us up Logan, trying to drive us apart. He thought it was some game! And when he knew it had worked, he just left me." Slowly her head bowed as she stared down at her hands, "I just think it's stupid to waste what we had because of what he did to us. And you more than anyone should realise how precious time is." Slowly she looked up at him, "To have watched people you cared for fade away as you outgrow them. Some of us haven't got all the time in the world Logan, that's why I'm asking you.. Time is precious.."

Slowly, Logan pulled his eyes from her, looking down also as he took in her words. He still harboured a certain dislike for Gambit after he took Aurora from him, but Aurora had been willing, although she said it was only because herself and Logan had been drifting apart for a while..

Her voice gently broke the silence, "Logan, do you still love me, or not?"

Logan finally found his voice and shook his head gently, "No. Not any more." His words were quiet and strained, difficult to be said.

"Prove it." He raised his eyes upon her to find her intently staring up at him. She stepped closer to him, her pale gentle eyes fixated upon his. "Prove it," she said again in a quieter voice. She closed the gap between them, the space between the bodies melting away as she rested up against him and pressed her lips against his. It was a fiery spark of emotion between them that reignited his passion as memories as to why he fell for her in the first place drowned his brain void of rational thought.

But more up to date memories settled in place, and the smirking face of Gambit passed over his mind's eye. With a gasp he pulled back from her, his fingers drifting out of her hair and his hand at her hip pushing her back. "No.." he said as he glared down at her.

She stared up at him with searching eyes,_ "No?"_

"You were right. Time is precious. That's why I won't be wasting any more of it on you." He pushed past her roughly, barging the door open as he stalked out onto the corridor. The door fell shut, leaving Aurora to stand alone in the dim lighting. Slowly her hands rose to her face as she descended to sit upon an upturned crate. Her soft sobs being her only company..

Logan stood out in the corridor, his own hands rubbing over his face as though he was trying to wake up from drowsiness. He sighed quietly to himself, letting his hands fall as he shook his head dejectedly.

The sound of footsteps caught his attention and he turned his head to see Madeline passing the corridor ahead. She stopped as she noticed him and stared in silence. He turned to walk towards her, but faltered as he saw a large bag slung over a shoulder and her coat over an arm..

* * *

Now, come on. If you read this chapter please review it for me.I know there are some people out there.. with the hits being higher than the reviews! You're doing a great deed. Don't make me beg, lol.

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	4. Seperate Ways

Thanks very much for reviewing you three. Big virtual hugs for you!

**- CHAPTER 4 - **

Seperate Ways

Madeline looked round slowly at Logan her eyes gently watching him almost awkwardly for a moment. Logan looked down slowly at the bag that was slung over a shoulder and the coat that lay over an arm. His face creased with a frown and he slowly settled a displeased glare on her.

"Going somewhere?"

Madeline looked surprised to hear the brusqueness within his tone that was more suited to the way he would speak to Gambit or Scott, not his daughter. "Dad," she began gently, "I've been looking for you, where've you been?"

"Just talking to Aurora," answered Logan simply, leaving out the more risqué details that involved dark cupboards and reignited passions. He scrutinized her gently before he continued, "Where are you going?"

"I got an offer.." answered Madeline slowly, "At the University I was at before, to rejoin and complete my degree."

"You can't leave," said Logan, staring at her, "You're learning here aren't you? Madeline, you can't leave. What about the X-Men? Weren't you considering joining? What about your mutation? And.. what about me?"

But Madeline shook her head slowly, "Logan.. Dad.. I left my studies to find you.. I never really intended to begin living somewhere else now. There's more to my life that this. Just because I am a mutant I shouldn't have to resign myself to staying at Xavier's school with the X-Men. Some mutants have a life.. A normal life. I had one, Dad. I left loads of friends behind for this.. and a education. Now that I've found you, I can continue with my life.. It doesn't mean you lose me. I'm eighteen years old.. I need to get on with my life."

Logan stared at her. He had never considered what she had left behind when she had come to find him. He had been out of her life for fifteen years. She had a life of her own he didn't know about, and who was he to stop her from living that live. _I'm her father.. _said a voice resolutely in his head. "I know," he murmured quietly, "It's just that after so long I've found you again.. I was hoping you'd stay here.."

"You mean you assumed I would. I want more than this I already have more."

"But things are dangerous out there now. The Government could throw that Mutant Registration Act out any day now and you're gallivanting off to a university!"

"I'm not gallivanting anywhere!" snapped Madeline, "Just because there is a potential threat doesn't mean I should shut myself away in this mansion. And I don't want to become a fighter either. My mutation is a gift, yes, but it doesn't mean I have to live my life by it. Just because I can scale walls and fight well doesn't mean I should do it. I want to continue my course.."

Logan bowed is head slowly as he sighed, "Alright.." he murmured quietly, "I'm sorry," he slowly walked over to her. Madeline watched him fearfully for a moment before she threw down her bag and coat and flung her arms around his large neck. Logan was surprised at her sudden embrace but merely smiled and held her close, nuzzling his face against her thick auburn hair and he heavily inhaled her familiar scent.

"I'm so happy to have found you," she whispered quietly, "But I can't give up everything I achieved just because I am a mutant."

"Take care of yourself out there," Logan closed his eyes slowly, "You know where to find us all if you need us. Where to find me.."

Madeline smiled slowly as she pulled back, and did something she had never done before, and kissed him on the cheek, "Alright," she gently pulled back and picked her belongings up off the floor. She slowly walked towards the double doors, pulling them open. As the gentle sunlight spilled into the entrance hall, she slowly looked round, giving her father a fond smile as she nodded her head his way, "Love you, Dad."

Logan felt an unnatural smile creep happily onto his face, "Love you too," he murmured roughly. He watched her as she exited.. And the door shut behind her exiting form.

"Well done, Logan," said a voice, and Logan looked round in surprise to see Charles wheeling out of one of the corridors.

Logan frowned a minute, "What do you mean?"

But Charles had a pleasant smile on his face, "For letting her go. Each mutant is different, Logan. Some do not revel in their mutation, not that they are afraid or dislike it, but just because they want to be normal. She has accepted her mutation Logan, but as she said, she doesn't have to let it rule her."

"Do you think she'll be alright?"

"Yes, the University is only just outside New York, she has got a taxi there." At the response to Logan's expression Charles merely chuckled as he turned and rolled back down the corridor, "We can do things the normal way Logan, what would you have me do, fly her there in the X-Jet?"

Logan stood quiet for a moment, idly staring at the door Madeline had left out of when he heard a gentle sob sounding from above. He looked up at the ceiling slowly, squinting his eyes as he listened to the quiet sniffling. He made a brief sniff that informed him of whose bedroom existed above him. Rogue? Why was she upset? Rogue was almost another daughter to Logan. He treated her with the same loyalty and protection he would with Madeline, even more so, because in his eyes, Rogue needed it more. She hated her mutation and it often brought her to tears when it was just them together. It looked like it could be another of those situations.

His frown deepened. He hated hearing her cry. He quickly turned to the staircase and hurried upstairs. It didn't take long for him to reach her bedroom door. He quietly knocked, but turned the handle almost instantly anyway and pushed the door open, "Rogue?"

She was sat at the end of her bedroom, quietly crying as she wiped tears from her face. When the door opened these actions hurried and she quickly looked round to stare at Logan. She forced a weak smile on her face, clearly trying to disguise the fact she had been upset. But it was pointless. Logan could see the remains of droplets below her glistening eyes and he could smell the sweet aroma of tears.

"What's happened?" he asked her quietly, walking over slowly.

"It's Bobby," murmured Rogue slowly, only after a moments hesitation. She shared everything with Logan. "He keeps hinting that he wants to kiss me and stuff.. And hell sometime he just tries to catch me off guard and kiss me anyway. I've told him.. Time and time again, I'm too scared.. I could've hurt him before.. I don't want to endanger him."

Logan frowned as he reached her side, moving to sit down besides her, "Why does he keep trying? The kid ain't stupid.."

"Well, I suppose he just wants to," murmured Rogue dejectedly. "Oh, Logan.. I just hate this mutation." She frowned as she wiped her eyes slowly, each time she had ever been upset, it normally came back to her poisonous skin. "I can never have a normal life," she leant against him gently, being careful to not place her head too close to his. It was automatic now, "I'm sorry, Logan. It's just.. Sometimes this really gets me down when I'm sat on my own. I just get onto thinking of everything I can never do. I mean, I can never have kids.. And even if by some miracle I can get pregnant without killing the father, what about the baby? What kind of life is it for a child when it's mother cannot even touch her own flesh or blood. And that's even if it'd survive the actual birth.. I'd probably kill it before it was even born."

"Don't think you're the only one, kid.."

Rogue looked up at him slowly, "What do you mean?"

"Having no kids. Do you think all here will ever get chance to have a family? Any of the X-Men? It wouldn't be safe, it's far too dangerous for them to have a kid in this place. They've sacrificed their lives to fighting for our kind. You ain't the only one to get a raw deal because of mutations."

Rogue bowed her head a little, frowning, "I never thought about that.."

"It's true though ain't it? I mean, Madeline is all grown up, so you can't exactly say I'm much of a father." He made a brief sigh, "She's gone again now though.."

"She's gone?"

"Back to University; wants to finish her studies.."

"Oh.. "

But Logan looked down at Rogue gently and smiled, "But I'm happy for her. Proud. She'll do well, and I want her to be happy."

"But what about you?"

"Well," said Logan with a toying smirk, "I've got to take care of this lot ain't I? Somebody's gotta save their necks every once in a while."

Rogue laughed gently as she squeezed her hold on his arm, "Do you think we'll be alright though? I mean, things have been quiet for a bit.."

"Well," murmured Logan quietly as he idly looked out of the window, "We'll have to see. We can take care of ourselves after all. But.. Things are getting really dangerous now. The MRA could be passed so we really gotta keep our heads down. If that thing gets passed, they're gonna want us first.."

* * *

This story jumps quite quickly into the action soon, so don't be too shocked whenit zooms into fast forward mode, lol.


	5. The Raid

Thank you very much for the reviews! Now don't forget, I did say the action really gets going here. If it comes and a sudden shock, that's because it's supposed to come as a sudden shock for everyone, including the X-Men! Read on!

**- CHAPTER 5 -**

**The Raid**

The silence remained consistent. Scott had been sat in bed watching the ceiling through his glasses for the past fifteen minutes whilst Siren got ready for bed. Beyond the windows that were framed by partly drawn curtains was a thick impenetrable blackness like the windows themselves had been covered. Siren gave a rather impatient little sigh as she chanced a brief look in Scott's direction. Something was clearly troubling him, because this was not normal. He was usually quite mischievous before bedtime, sneaking obvious peeks across the top of the bed cover as she undressed and they'd laugh and bounce suggestive jokes off each other.

But tonight even a purposely prolonged search for her nightdress clad in nothing but her underwear wasn't enough to grab the visor-wearing mutant's attention. Siren normally didn't even need to turn on her mutant charm to get Scott's straying eyes, but even now, with a few clear signals being directed his way, he wasn't budging. Siren frowned gently, giving up her so-called search for her nightdress as she crawled across the covers of the double bed to flop atop the duvet on her front as she watched Scott.

"Your nightdress is in the third drawer down folded besides your jeans," said Scott in a bland tone without looking at her.

"I know," said Siren with a suggestive wriggle of her behind. "But I thought I'd come and see you.." she lifted a hand to playfully walk her fingers across the covers at the lay upon his clothed chest. Scott slowly looked down at the hand as it reached his face and tenderly took his cheek. Scott slowly turned his head, as he looked her way. He always made himself aware of her supreme control over her powers. If she weren't as strong as she was, she'd be disfiguring his face with her burning flesh right now. He admired that strength. "V_ous bein?_" murmured Siren quietly.

After been around Siren for so long, her habit of slipping into French from time to time was nothing unexpected now, and Scott answered her regardless, "I'm alright," he said gently, moving his hand so he could take hers, "Just thinking about today.. about Alkali Lake." Yet another sigh issued from him and he squeezed her hand briefly before he let his head drop back on the pillow, "Oh I don't know, I guess some part of me expected you to miraculously find Jean there.. alive. Yet at the same time, I knew it wasn't possible."

"There's nothing wrong with wishful thinking," offered Siren helpfully.

"Yeah, but I need to stop slipping into the past. And it's more than wishful thinking. I really hoped.. y'know? I need to concentrate on my life now," her hand was squeezed again by his fingers.

"Now?" asked Siren gently as she leaned in towards him.

Scott nodded slowly, "Now," he lips leant forward to meet hers whilst a hand reached back towards the bedside lamp. The room was thrown into darkness, leaving only the sounds of gentle breaths of escalating kisses.

* * *

Darkness lay around Logan as he opened his eyes to stare up at the ceiling. He yawned quietly as he reached up his hands, laying the back of a forearm across his brow as he relaxed in the built up warmth of the large bed. He felt oddly content, yet he knew what he had been dreaming about, and for once, they weren't nightmares. The dreams involved Aurora, dark cupboards and a lot more than passionate kisses.

What did they mean? Logan questioned himself inside his head at the possibilities of why he was having such dreams now. Was it because Aurora had awoken something inside him? Reminded him just how much he felt for her? His feelings towards her had been pushed so deep down out of view that he forgot he had them. Was it true, did he really still love her? Logan frowned to himself as he rolled over to watch the dark window solemnly. He hated how being by yourself and in silence made you think too deeply. Lying alone in bed made thoughts come all too easily and clearly without the busyness of the day to distract your worries.

Logan figured he was going to be awake for the rest of the night now. There was no way his brain would rest with all these thoughts tumbling around his head. He sat up slowly and swung his legs out of bed. Before his bare feet touched the floorboard a sudden scream pierced the silent air with a shrill ringing that froze Logan still.

* * *

Their bodies lay warm and tightly together with covers intertwined around limbs. Siren's head rested comfortably on Scott's shoulder, fanning golden blonde hair across the pillow behind her. She shifted gently with a content murmur, snuggling her cheek against the smooth bare flesh of his shoulder. She stirred briefly for a moment, the arm that lay strewn across Scott's exposed stomach pulled towards her a little. Eventually, her eyes fluttered open as she stared at the window drowsily with a satisfied little smile playing sleepily across her lips.

The slow gentleness of the night was suddenly brought to a jarring halt as the window, which Siren gazed at, smashed as an object flew through it. Siren lay still for a moment, it being too early out of slumber to put comprehensive thoughts together. But slowly, she noticed a dark gas unfurling at the bottom of the bed, and as her gaze settled tiredly upon it, she could feel her eyes watering and breaths becoming painful. She quickly sat up, coughing and gagging as hot tears began to leak from the corners of her eyes.

Scott stirred abruptly, only to be reduced into a sudden choking fit as he gasped and spluttered. Through the smashed windows a few dark figures silently leapt in. Blinded by her tears and by the thick smoke that was clouding the room, Siren was taken entirely by surprise as she felt a pair of rough hands grab her ankles and wrench her out of bed roughly. In her shock, she gave a sudden scream, as she was pulled out onto the floor, out of the warmth of the bed. She lay in only her underwear, hunched on the floor coughing and choking over her dying scream. She fought to scramble to her feet, eyes stinging so painfully, everything blurred and dull.

But hands grabbed her around the middle, and she screamed Scott's name for aid, which caused a sudden strike to her head that made her slump in her capturer's arms.

"Adrienne!" Scott cried, but it was followed by a coughing retch as he tumbled out of the bed, crawling blindly. He was suddenly wrenched off the floor by numerous hands, several of which hit heavily across his face whilst others fought his arms behind his half-naked form, and before he realised what was happening his hands had been cuffed.

"Shoot them," said a muffled unfamiliar voice. Scott lifted his head slowly to stare through watering eyes behind his glasses at a darkly dressed figure with a large mask on his face in protection from the fumes.

Scott tugged on the hold, his lung burning for clear air as he continued to gasp and choke, "Adrienne! ADRIENNE!"

A shot sounded, followed by a second one. Scott felt a sharp object jab into his arm, as he stood held still by two of the soldiers. It wasn't a bullet.. but the instant that sharp tip was in.. he felt a slow weakness start come over him. Like parts of his body was sleepily shutting down.

"March them out," ordered a voice. Scott was shoved forward and Siren bodily dragged across the floor. The leading soldier kicked the door open. Horrendous scenes met Scott's eyes as he was walked out onto the corridor. Soldiers, hundreds of them, were marching bound mutants along the corridor. Coughs and crying filled the air, but no one fought back or ran away, everyone was bound, and they all looked as weak as he felt. Scott was jostled into the crowd by the soldiers and was marched towards the entrance doors that had been thrown open as soldiers walked with the captured mutants towards several large planes that were parked on the grass with their undersides opened as a ramp.

Scott looked round slowly, recognising several students and X-Men, including Aurora who suffered a gash across her face as she was carried unconscious. No doubt she too had put up a fight. Scott tried to clear his brain, trying to think straight, but whatever was in the gun that shot him seemed to slow him down, make his body and mind sluggish. And so he, like all the others, put up no resistance as they were led up the ramp into the planes and disappeared from view.

* * *

"Oh my God.." Logan stood at the window, watching the activity on the front lawn. Mutants were rallied into the jets like cattle, all walking slowly with their heads tiredly bowed. He gripped the windowsill tightly, watching with his heart hammering and fear pulsing through his veins. He had been lucky that he was ready when he heard Siren's earlier screams, when soldiers burst into his room he took them down quickly before running on to discover just what the hell was going on.

Was he the only one still in the mansion? It had dropped into an eerie silence as the mutants were sent into the large carriers. What should he do, run out there? Try and fight? Logan slowly trailed his eyes over the scene, spotting Sentinels dotted here and there in their pristine suits with the black sunglasses positioned over their eerie lens-like eyes. The minute he stepped into view they'd swarm upon him.

A speedy thudding of running footsteps behind him caught his attention, and he abruptly spun round with his claws slicing down out of his knuckles ready. But it was Storm, who looked drained and shocked by the whole event. Her hands were raised, clearly expecting Logan to be an enemy.

"Oh! Logan!" she cried as she ran towards him, "They've taken everyone, everyone's gone!"

"Who's taken everyone?"

"The government!" Storm replied with wide eyes, "It's obvious isn't it! The Registration Act is passed. Oh my God, Logan.. this is it.. we're being rounded up. They're going to come and find us!" Storm ran to the window, staring down at the rows of mutants that walked onto the planes surrounded by soldiers keeping them in check. "We've got to help them, come on!" she quickly turned in a bid to rush down the corridor but Logan quickly held her back with his hands on her arms.

"No.." he said gently as he pulled her round to face him. He tentatively looked down across the grounds, "No.. there's no point all of us being taken."

"Well what are we supposed to do! Just stand here and get taken without a fight?"

"Run."

"What on earth – "

Logan shook his head, tightening his hands on her upper arms, "It's too late Storm, if we go out there now and retaliate, we'll be dead within seconds, and then the X-Men and the other mutants have no chance of being freed. We need to stay out of the Sentinel's way and get the hell outta here."

"So we're just going to leave them!"

"Listen to me! The only way we can help them is by being an outside aid. If we get taken too then they have nobody. They've sprung the MRA on us. Clearly they wanted the element of surprise so they could come here and get us first. No doubt they suspected that the X-Men would intervene."

Storm turned to the window, watching the ramps close up and hide the mutants from view, "Oh.. where are they taking them.."

"It'll be all over the media tomorrow now they raided this school, they've got the worst of us out of the way. But Storm, we can't be irrational."

Storm turned to look at Logan slowly, tears gently sparkling in her eyes, "So we've got to stay out of the Government's hands to try and figure out how to stop all this?"

"Yes.." sighed Logan quietly, "We're the only chance they've got." He gently took her arms as the pair began to swiftly walk down the corridor, "We'll go out the back door and quickly get into the woods so they won't notice us. We've got the clear this place otherwise they'll notice some mutants missing and we want to be well off by the time that happens."

"But Logan.. we don't even know how we can help them once we're clear of here.."

"I know." Logan glanced towards her, "But we've got to try."

* * *

www(dot)freewebs(dot)com/twhb4

Please review! I hope it got you all geared up for a good story!


	6. Desperate

Nice to see some new reviews appearing! Hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoy writing it. Thanks to everyone, including my old timers!

**- CHAPTER SIX -  
Desperate **

Logan and Storm quickly threw themselves into a run, their footfalls loud and echoing in the horrific silence of the mansion. It was now quieter than it had been even when everyone was sleeping. The life of the mansion was dead. The only sounds came from the activity outside, where the carriers could be heard closing up.

Logan led the pair through the empty corridors where broken ornaments lay in pieces on the floor and portraits had slipped to an angle. The walls were scarred with the forceful entry, scratched and burnt with weapon fire. One of the windows had been smashed, the curtains that had been draped either side of it were now strewn across the debris of the floor in a unfurling ripple of crimson.

A cabinet lay on it's side, blocking passage through the hallway, but Logan merely speeding up, hurling himself over expertly. He landed heavily on the other side with a thud of his feet and continued running. Behind him, Storm belatedly reached the fallen furniture, but being clad in her ankle-length nightdress, she was in the wrong clothing to be vaulting over obstacles. Deciding against blasting the cabinet out of the way (one of Charles's favourites,) she instead slowed down so she may awkwardly clamber over it, hitching her dress to her thighs. Once across, she speeded up so she was closer to Logan.

But then, across the silence of the mansion, and out on the grounds there was a echoing boom which caused both of them to stop. "They know we're missing," whispered Storm, "Quick! The Sentinels will track us down in minutes!"

"Wait.." Logan wasn't looking at her, he was looking closely at something on the wall.

"What is it?" asked Storm as she turned. Logan stepped closer, extending his hand to the wall. There was a metal needle pierced into the smooth woodwork, a vial attached filled with a ghostly white liquid. It had mechanisms on it, proving that it had been shot from a gun. Logan fastened his large fist around it, yanking it out of the wall and letting it lay in his palm.

"This is what they were shooting.."

A second explosion shook through the building, causing Storm to look round with a gasp. "Logan, we must go!" She grabbed him by the wrist, spinning around and running round the next corner. Logan was pulled along with her, a frown upon his face as he held the cool needle in his hand. Storm released his as she faced the wall, running her finger tips down the surface. "Here it is."

With her finger, she pushed it at inch into the foundation of the wall itself, and it automatically rose up. Beyond it lay a dimly lit tunnel, it's walls grey and foreboding. A few bare bulbs hung from the ceiling, casting the weak light out into the blackness of the mansion's corridor. Logan recognised this as the very same exit Rogue had pleaded him to follow her in over a year ago. The night he met Stryker..

Storm had slipped inside, already on ahead, running barefooted down the dim tunnel. The lighting silhouetted her strangely, framing the flight of her hair and the billowing ripples of her dress. Logan stepped inside, turning to ram the secret door down firmly so that their exit was safely sealed. Turning, he ran on after her, joining footfalls echoing rhythmically with the pair's heavy breaths. Corners were turned, seemingly endless to the desperate mind. Logan could see Storm faltering as she continued running, the constant speed taking it's toll, for she had not slowed once.

As her speed began to decrease, Logan caught up with her, slipping an arm round hers in encouragement. They couldn't stop yet. Not until they were out of the mansion. Storm cast him a side-ways glance, managing a slight inclination of her head in thanks before her speed picked up once more, and she pressed herself on regardless. A large barred door at the end of the tunnel was unlocked and pushed upon by the joining effort of Storm and Logan. The cool air hit them gently as the pair staggered out into the bitter woodland skirting the mansion walls.

Logan pushed the door shut as Storm went on ahead, looking around cautiously. She made her way through the dew tipped blades of grass. Reaching trees, she peered between the large trunks, watching the carriers lift from the grounds of the mansion and ascend quietly into the sky. Logan slowly came up behind her, his eyes too shifting upwards. A soft sigh exhaled from Storm as she turned to look at him, "Well, we're out," she murmured quietly, sounding unsure as to whether that was good news or not.

Logan nodded his head slowly as he pulled back from the tree trunks, turning to sit down in the cool grass. They had entered a small clearing, surrounded by dense, dark trees that blocked out much view, including the starlit sky above. The wind rustled through the crisp newborn leaves, causing a scratchy whisper to background the distant aircraft drones. Storm crouched down besides him as she watched him expectantly. But Logan was looking at the needle he still held in his hand. He slowly uncurled his fist to bring the instrument closer to his gaze so he may study it.

"This has something to do with the fact why there was so little retaliation."

"But what could it do?" Storm slipped to sit on her knees, watching the needle with a cautious expression.

Logan turned the needle slowly, extending his left arm at the same time. Storm quickly grabbed the arm with her hand, sensing his plans, "Don't."

At her stern voice, Logan looked up slowly. The needle was poised above the delicate flesh of the underside of his forearm. "We need to see what it does. I'll heal."

"I don't care if you'll heal," snapped Storm, "You don't stick alien objects into your body!"

"Why? Because it could kill you?" Logan snorted quietly, "I'm doin' us a favour. We need to know what we're up against." Before Storm could protest anymore, he had plunged the needlepoint into his skin, and the fluid was injected. He threw down the empty vial, watching his unmarked flesh.

Storm, looking torn between furiousness and fear, watched anxiously. Logan flexed his arm slowly, as though testing it for movement. His fingers also wriggled. Curious, he glanced to Storm. There didn't seem to be anything happening.

Then he felt it.

A slow, sleepy sensation washing oh-so soothingly over him. His worry and concern seemed so unimportant. His mind became sluggish and slow, his body relaxing it's tense state as he slumped tiredly against the tree.

At the same time, in the back of his mind, he was screaming for his consciousness to snap out of it, that this was a dangerous choice. But his mental and physical state just slowed down uncaringly to a weak state. Storm leaned forward slowly, watching, as Logan merely seemed to become overly relaxed. Too relaxed for the situation. Too relaxed for Wolverine. Logan slowly looked her way, casting her an almost bored gaze. There was no sharpness in his eyes; they had lost their intense stare, their depth. It was surprising how much Storm found this shocked her. How unsettling it was.

"Logan," her hands met his arms again and she shook him gently, as if hoping to rouse him out of this state. But he merely shook his head in an unhelpful manner and continued to lie there.

However, he slowly seemed to come round, his eyes regaining their feral glint and relaxed features becoming stern and fierce, He sat up, staring at the needle he had thrown to one side. "Must be brief. With my healing powers battling against it."

"It's a relaxant?"

"Something like that."

"What do you mean?"

But Logan shook his head, sighing quietly, "I don't know, it's hard to explain." He looked down at the arm it had been injected into, "You sort of.. feel tired.. but easy going." He shook his head once more, "It's strange, but also worrying. They must have a lot of this to use it one everyone here."

"It might just be for those in large groups like we are. I dare say to some mutant living alone would just be cornered by a fleet of soldiers." Storm lowered her head slowly, closing her eyes, "I don't know which is worse."

But Logan seemed keen to keep things swiftly moving, "We can't sit here till sun rise. We need to keep moving. Those Sentinels will be tracking us down as we speak."

"And how exactly are we going to travel? We can't go back and get the X-Jet, not yet."

Logan stood to his feet quietly, giving an idle stretch of his limbs that caused his metal joints to crack unpleasantly, "We'll grab a car or something. Come back for the jet when we know the place is clear."

"Grab a car?" repeated Storm as she too rose besides him, looking displeased, "Logan, we're not criminals."

"No," agreed Logan softly as he set off walking towards the road through the trees, "we're desperate."

* * *

I had already written this chapter.. then I accidentally deleted it. Meaning one very pissed off author! It was so good too.. bah. So if this seems a little off, it wasn't originally, lol. Review, make me feel better, please!


	7. Necessities

**- CHAPTER SEVEN -**

**Necessities**

Moving quickly, Logan pushed on through the bushes, ignoring the numerous scratches to his skin as he stepped in and out of sharp foliage, using tree trunks as leverage to pull him forward. Storm followed behind him, taking the path a lot more gracefully, probably why she wasn't receiving any injuries herself. They were heading away from the mansion walls and towards the narrow road outside the grounds that led to the main dual carriageways towards New York centre. The mansion behind them was now silent.

Logan threw himself around a tree, swiping branches out of his way with an arm as the thick foliage began to thin as he reached the roadside. Logan leapt out onto the road, landing heavily on his feet. He quickly looked up to see nothing but a glare of brilliant white light followed by screeching tyres. His surprised cry was drowned out by an unnecessary blast of a car horn. In the split second moment, Storm managed to quickly look up and see Logan's body go flying across the top of a car bonnet and into the air.

"Logan!" she ran out onto the cold icy road towards where his body had heavily landed a few feet behind the now stationary car, which had veered off the road slightly. The horn was still blaring incessantly. Storm dropped down onto her knees besides him, pulling his large form round as she continued to repeat his name.

"Stop it, I'm fine," he muttered, brushing away her worrying like it was a cloud of midges. He sat up slowly, a hand brushing his hair back from his eyes. "That injection must weaken your powers a lil.. I shoulda heard that comin'."

"It should wear off.. but forget about that for now. Logan, are you alright?"

Logan snorted quietly as he pushed himself to his feet easily, "I think I did more damage to the car." Storm's eyes raised to his before a look of understanding crept upon her face, quickly followed by fear. She quickly jumped up to her feet, running across to where the car sat at the side of the road. She ran by the side of the passenger's door coming round the front of the car where the lights were still glaring from the crumpled bonnet. The number plate was askew and wrinkled. The bonnet was out of shape; the front of the car had a large dent where it had collided with Logan's body. With the same effects as ramming into a steel girder, the entire front of the car was now misshaped.

The car horn was still blaring loudly, and Storm saw the reason as she reluctantly raised her eyes to look inside at the driver. He was slumped against the steering wheel, clearly unmoving. "Logan!" she cried, worry doubling in her voice. Logan came over as she called, sporting a slight limp but worse injuries were already on their way to healing.

"What?" he asked as he came round the front of the car, then taking in the damage that the impact had had on the car. Slowly, his eyes followed the same path as Storm's did, reaching the unconscious driver who lay slumped forward. "Shit," he muttered under his breath.

"We need to help him."

"How, Storm? We can't exactly take him over to the nearest hospital when we're on the run!"

"We can't just leave him either! Look, search him, has he got a mobile phone on him?"

Logan raised an eyebrow as he glanced over at Storm, "What we doin' now, lootin' the injured?"

"No! We're ringing emergency services and bringing them here, by when we'll be long gone."

Slowly nodding his head, Logan stalked round the front of the car, passing through the bright glare of the headlights. Reaching the car door, he yanked it open, leaning in to unclip the driver's seatbelt and pull out the injured. Storm quickly ran over to help him and together the pair carried the man to the grass at the side of the road. Once he was down, Storm checked his injuries, whilst Logan tried pockets for a phone. Being unsuccessful, he hurried back to the vehicle to search the seats and glove box. Pushing aside glove box necessities, including tissues, maps, pens and other quite random items, he found a mobile phone, and a wallet. Grabbing both, he headed out to Storm once more. Storm looked round as he returned, casting a disproving glare when she saw him holding a wallet. "Logan! What are you doing?"

"I'm sorry Storm, but we gotta get by. I don't exactly have the need for cash when I'm asleep. And I very much doubt you got a bundle of notes down the top of your nightdress."

"So, we're stealing?" asked Storm through gritted teeth.

Logan ignored her, opening the wallet and grabbing the notes within. He threw the wallet at her, "Put in it his pocket, I.D for the paramedics." Storm glowered, but did as he said. "Here," he called, then throwing the phone her way, "You wanna ring?"

She quickly caught it, flashing him a steely glare as she flipped back the front and dialled. As she placed the phone to her ear, Logan turned towards the car once more, walking slowly to the crumpled bonnet. He studied it for a moment before he leant forth, using his heavy weight to straighten the large bend in the hood. With his fist, he heavily pummelled the bumper back into shape, shoving it firm against the hood he had just flattened. With this done, he headed back to the driver's door, getting into the car. With the keys still in the ignition, he turned them coaxingly and the engine weakly spluttered to life.

"Come on!" he shouted across to Storm, who quickly came over holding the closed phone in her hand.

"What?"

"We needed a car, well, we've got a car."

"You're taking this guy's money AND his car? Not to mention you're the one who crashed his car in the first place."

"Correction," said Logan quietly, "I'm also taking his phone," and he suddenly swiped it out of Storm's hands, "Get in, we need to get away from the mansion."

"No," she said resolutely, folding her arms.

Logan leant out, extending a hand, "Don't be stupid," he grabbed her wrist, and with a cry of surprise she was dragged into the car, falling upon his lap. He pushed her over onto the passenger seat. She didn't even have chance to straighten as the car squealed away with spin of the wheels and raced off down the road. In the far distance behind them, flashing lights of the paramedics came into view.

* * *

But just how far are the pair going to get? And how long will it take for them to know just what is happening to their team members? Review for a faster update!


	8. No Choice

Thank you very much for the reviews, although I'd like to see more of my readers leaving comments! If you like it, tell me! If you don't like it.. er.. go do something else, lol.

**- CHAPTER EIGHT -**

No Choice

The car speedily made its way through the nighttime suburban border of New York City. It was going fast for the small roads, and for most of the journey Storm had been gripping onto her seat as Logan performed dangerous manoeuvres to pass traffic and other so called obstacles. Storm didn't have much of an idea as to where they were going; the initial idea was to put distance between themselves and the mansion. Now they had done that.. there seemed to be nothing to do. Nothing to do but help the captured mutants. But where do you start with that? When you know you'll be killed if Sentinels catch you?

Her thoughts were disturbed as Logan spoke, and she quickly looked across to him. "Keep an eye out for any Sentinels."

"Do you think they'd start following us?"

"Definitely."

Storm looked outside slowly, peering across the road. "Logan! Stop!" And he slammed on the brakes, causing the car behind to angrily blast his horn as it came tearing alongside and past them.

"What?"

"Look, down there!" she pointed down the junction, at a street which looked rather ransacked. Smouldering rubbles was scattered on the road, and various scars of brutal attacks were evident on some of the buildings. Logan leant forward slowly, looking by Storm and down the road she watched.

"Sentinels.." he muttered quietly. His hands tightened on the steering wheel and with a screeched of the tyres the car abruptly turned and raced across the opposite lane of traffic and down the destroyed road.

"Logan!" cried Storm as she clung onto the car door for balance, "What are you doing?"

"They're after mutants," growled Logan as he pressed the car into a higher gear as the car shot down the road, "We gotta help."

Storm quickly looked round at him, "Logan, these Sentinels will be long gone, or else they'd be upon us now. Why don't we – argh!"

Logan had just slammed on the brakes, causing Storm to fall forward against the restraints of her seatbelt. He had stopped outside a house, which had its front door hanging weakly off its hinge as it sat wide open. The pair stared at in silence. "C'mon," muttered Logan, wrenching open the car door and running up the path towards the attacked house. Storm quickly exited, and followed him round. Together the pair made their way into the house, whose hallway light was still switched on, and burned ghostly out onto the dark street through the broken doorway.

Storm quietly walked into the hall, staring at the cracked walls and damaged furniture that lay on the stained carpet. Crimson stains. This had been a difficult fight. Logan was up ahead, wrenching open the door and peering into the dark rooms beyond. He was sniffing each time he opened the doors, eyes cautiously glancing around. He then came past Storm, running up a few steps on the staircase. "There's no one here," he muttered quietly as he looked down at her.

"Sentinels took them?"

Yeah.." said Logan softly as he made his way down the staircase slowly to join her in to lit hall. "They'll have gone to wherever the X-Men were took." He looked around the hallway slowly before he watched the open door. He quietly slipped over to it, shutting the door in it's frame and lodging it in place, he then flipped the switch for the hall light and they were plunged into darkness.

"Logan, what are you doing?"

"We can stay here," he replied quietly, making his way through the closest door off the hall, "Just while we think up a plan."

"But Logan, this is someone's house!"

"Storm, I don't think they'll be needin' it at the moment!" He looked around the living room, which seemed to have survived the attack; only a table had fallen over, perhaps by someone running for the door. As he straightened the table upright, he spoke, "Go get some blankets off the beds upstairs if you don't want to sleep in someone's bed. Bring 'em down here and we can use the sofas. I'm gonna see what food they got in the kitchen."

Storm watched him through narrowed eyes before she turned and made her way upstairs. Logan skulked off into the mutant's kitchen where he inspected the fridge. The door was quietly pulled open, the dark kitchen lit by the ghostly white lighting of the fridge's insides. The first thing he laid eyes on was a six-pack beer. It was pulled out and set on the worktop. He saw sealed packets of cold meat on the top shelf, they too came out. He turned to make his way to the cupboards, but suddenly stopped. Lying on the floor, amongst a few broken plates was a toddler's high chair, a pink teddy bear sat inside it – old and huggable judging by its limp state. He quickly turned his back on the destruction, frowning as he headed to the cupboards. He sifted through for packets of food, pulling out a few and gathering the bunch in his arms. Without laying a single glance at the fallen high chair, he made his way out of the kitchen where he saw Storm sat cross legged in front of the fireplace, upon a thick duvet, watching the glowing flames of a fire.

The curtains had been closed so no one would see the light.

"How did you do that?" he asked her quietly as he kneeled by her side.

Storm slowly looked round, knocking long strands of ivory from her face, "A lighter and yesterday's newspaper," she said quietly. There was a withdrawn look on her face as she focused her eyes back on the fire. A silence fell about them as the pair fell into a sombre state. "There's a baby room upstairs," Storm said quietly, breaking their brooding quietness.

"And a high chair in the kitchen," muttered Logan quietly. He slowly looked up at her, seeing the saddened expression on her face.

"How could they do this?" she asked quietly. She glared at the fire, the reflection blazing in her angry eyes, "Even though, I knew the Mutant Registration Act could happen one day.. I never expected to see such heartless things.."

Logan remained quiet, looking down at the six-pack of beer he held. He slowly pulled one out, sighing quietly, "Yeah.." He pulled back the opening, the sound catching Storm's attention. She looked round slowly, eyes watching the can. She was about to say something, probably disapproving. But she sighed, relenting and nodding as if in agreement. After the night they'd had, she couldn't blame his choice.

"Do you think.." began Storm quietly, pausing as though debating whether or not she should say the words about to come, ".. do you think we should see if we can get any clothes? I mean.. this isn't very practical when running away from Sentinels," she made a humourless smile as she gestured to her long nightdress.

Logan initially looked surprised at her suggestion, for she had been adamantly against taking advantage of others on their journey so far. But her proposal was logical and necessary. Lowering the beer, he made a slight nod of his head, "Good idea. I'll be fine in what I've got. Some boots might be helpful, but I'm not bothered."

"I think I'll go and look.." said Storm softly as she rose to her feet, nodding to Logan. She swept from the room quietly, her gentle footsteps ascending up the dark staircase. Storm made her way across the upstairs landing, her bare feet treading with silence on the carpet. Her gaze avoided the open door of the baby's room as she made her way into the master bedroom, fighting to ignore the disrupted bed covers where the sleeping mutants had been snatched from. She reached the wardrobe, her hands hesitating on the handles as she watched it sorrowfully. With a glance around the room, as though expecting someone to catch her, she pulled open the doors and began to sift through the hanging items.

* * *

On his third beer already, Logan was having no objections to taking advantage of the house owners. He continued to stare morosely into the fire, glance disturbed as the can was tilted into his line of sight every now and then when he drank. He waited for Storm to return, but meanwhile, he was happy to sit in silence. But that silence wasn't lasting for as long as he hoped. Logan's advanced hearing could picked up the distant engine of helicopter blades, several of them They were becoming louder, only proving that they were heading this way. Logan shot to his feet, the can falling to the floor where it rolled against the fireplace pitifully as Logan sprinted across the room, yanking back the door and heavily running up the staircase. "Storm!"

The helicopters were now so loud, that even Storm would be able to hear them.

"Storm!" he desperately looked around the dark hallway, eyes moving from door to door. He threw himself through one of them with a nosily slam, the force startling Storm who made a surprised cry as Logan came running towards her. With only one leg into a pair of trousers, as Logan tackled her, she was easily knocked off balance with a second scream; punctuated by the hiss of, "Get down!" Logan pushed her down to the floor, his hand going over her mouth to silence her screams. He looked up, staring out of the window at the distant lights coming closer through the sky.

"How is this helping?" murmured Storm below the press of his hand. He promptly pulled his hand from his lips, looking from the window and down at her.

"The Sentinels have their own radar," he whispered quietly, "the Sentinels will be automatically controlling these helicopters of soldiers. The Sentinels' radar.. I remember it. Briefly. It was tested on me back at Alkali Lake." He watched her gently, continuing when he got no understanding from her, "Remember? I was one of the experiments for the early batch Sentinels? Their radar doesn't pick up adamantium. Adamantium blocks their transmission. It's not me they're searching for." He steadied himself over her, watching the window and the oncoming helicopters, "It's you. If they find you, they know I'll be there too."

"That doesn't explain why you've just tackled me to the floor," whispered Storm.

"I'm a shield," said Logan shortly, his face was suddenly lit up by the blazing headlamps of the underside of the helicopter. The rotating blades were now deafeningly loud as the helicopter came upon the house. Logan quickly lowered his head out of the beam of light. "They can't see you with their radar. I'm blocking it." The helicopter was right above the house now, small objects on nearby surfaces were rattling quietly, and the trees outside were whipping the window with their blown branches. "If they don't leave.. they've got us."

Storm, who has been looking back out of the window and up at the passing helicopter quickly rested her eyes back on Logan, "Got us?"

"We don't stand a chance if they know we're here." The helicopter was still hovering above the house, the pilots within clearly confused as to how their signal of Storm had suddenly disappeared. Logan closed his eyes slowly, the concentration of wishing and pleading evidence on his face.

"Logan! They're going!" whispered Storm hurriedly as she looked upside down out of the window. The helicopter sounds were moving off, the beam of light leaving the window of the house. Shadows fell back around them as the helicopter departed, and continued across the city in search of more transmissions. Logan opened his eyes, looking around as he listened intently. He waited for a short while before he carefully pulled off her. He extended a hand to her and pulled her up to her feet, Storm took this opportunity to shove her leg fully into her new trousers and pulled them fastened around her waist.

"Sorry about grabbing you like that," said Logan quietly, rubbing the back of his neck slowly, "I should've given some warnin', I guess."

But Storm shook her head making her way to the bedroom door and descending the staircase with a relieved smile, "Don't be sorry, you just saved both of us and given us more time to plan."

"Yeah.." said Logan quietly as he followed after her.

"Actually, an idea came upon me whilst I was up there," called Storm as she reached the hallway. Logan looked at her curiously as he continued to walk down the stairs behind her. "If we try and track where these helicopters are coming from, then perhaps we can trace their paths and find where all the mutants are being taken to?"

"Could work," said Logan quietly, "but.. we could easily be caught."

"I know," sighed Storm quietly as she turned to face him, "But anything we do now means taking a risk."

"So, basically, we got no choice?"

"Yes," answered Storm quietly, giving him a weak smile before she quickly turned and made her way through to the living room where the fire was gently lowering, "We'll go before sun rise. Use the car, and try and find some Sentinels. Let's just hope they don't come back before then."

* * *

Review! It's your good deed for the day!


	9. Sentinels!

**Chapter 9**

With the curtains drawn, it was not as easy to tell whether it was sunlight or not. But with the weak glow of a frosty sun peeking through the small gaps of the soft fabric, the room was slowly coming to life in the grey dawn light. Logan was still asleep on the floor, sprawled upon his back in front of the unlit fire. A few empty beer cans lay scattered at his feet. Storm, since awaking well over an hour ago, had seated herself in the armchair besides the window, watching the blackness of the night be overtaken by the cool silver lighting. She slowly looked round and back at Logan who had just made a content grunt in his sleep. "Logan?"

As asleep as Logan may be, his hearing did not miss his name being called and he slowly turned his head to peer over at her with blinking eyes, "Mm?"

"It's time to go."

He made a slow nod of his head as he pushed himself up to his feet, slowly, raising his arms to the ceiling as he stretched and loudly cracked several adamantium joints in the process. With a quiet sigh, Logan made his way to the front door, closely followed by Storm. Logan slowly tugged at the broken door he had lodged into the frame, pulling it away and leaving a big enough gap for them to exit through. He allowed Storm to slip through first, before he followed suit. As Storm quietly made her way back to the car, Logan proceeded to pull the door back into its frame. It looked a little askew, but it did the job.

The road was silent in the early hours. Only the distant rumble of morning city life could be heard. The cold grey light covered the road, with a golden horizon forming. The quietness was disturbed as the car engine was started, and the vehicle swiftly pulled away to leave the street behind.

* * *

Traffic was minimal so early, and the mutant's travels were more or less smooth. In the car, they had the radio on. In the past half an hour, a Sentinel sighting had been spotted in the west of New York, and so they headed in that direction. They partly hoped they would find Sentinels, so they could follow them, but also feared finding them. They could be captured themselves, or even killed.

And they needed to find the Sentinels before the Sentinels found them.

"We must see something soon," muttered Storm quietly as she looked round at the passing street, keeping a watchful eye.

"They certainly ain't keepin' quiet over it anymore, since it legal."

Suddenly, Storm reached forward, turning off the news on the radio with a press of the button.

"What are you doin'?"

But Storm shushed him, "I thought I heard something.." she turned slowly in her seat, looking out behind her through the back window. Her eyes narrowed curiously beneath strands of ivory. A horrible silence was upon them, for they both sat with bated breath, anxious to hear something to give away the expected. Slowly, Storm pulled back, looking across at Logan slowly with shake of her head in dismissal. But then, behind then, a terrorising explosion of sound shook the car, and both of the X-Men whipped their heads round to see that a large Sentinel had just landed in the road behind the car. The force was so heavy that the road surface had cracked below his feet. "Go! Go!" screamed Storm, but Logan didn't need her instructions. His foot hit the accelerator and a hand yanked the gear stick and the car shot off ahead with a roar of the engine.

They were lucky that the road was so empty, for Logan's driving skills meant a wild screeching trek around the suburban streets. The Sentinel had been running after them, and with Logan's speedy driving, it was losing them. But without any warning, it jumped, flying through the air. Logan's eyes frantically darted from the rear view mirror to the road ahead, but hands clasped tight on the steering wheel as the car squealed around a corner with a cloud of dirt rising from the back tyres. Storm gave a cry of surprise as the Sentinel landed heavily on the roof of their car, dinting the surface. Logan's eyes glanced upwards before a fierce growl set onto his features. As the car raced along, he yanked the steering wheel down, and the car suddenly spun in a screeching frenzy. The Sentinel was thrown off the roof, hitting a far building with a loud crash of the brickwork beneath him.

As the car stopped spinning, Logan set the gear, and the car raced off again with a wide-eyed Storm slumped against the door. She slowly pushed herself up, hands holding onto the dashboard firmly in case Logan pulled any more sudden stunts, "Up ahead," she said quietly, "look."

Logan peered down at the end of the road, where a gathering could be seen – that was until a Sentinel landed on their bonnet with a crash, catching both mutants by surprise and causing the car to veer off to one side unexpectedly. Logan slammed the brake on before they would collide with anything. He raised his eyes to glare stonily as the suited women who crouched on the bonnet before them. Her black glasses glinted eerily in the dim sunshine. She pulled a fist back as it began to glow and thrust it at the windscreen. It smashed loudly, causing Storm to gasp and shield her face from the flying shards of glass.

"Get out!" cried Logan as he turned, shoving the car door open. Storm rammed her hands on her car door, which wasn't budging. Her hands fumbled with the lock, belatedly exiting the car just as the Sentinel reached forth to grab her, missing by inches. Together, Logan and Storm ran across the road. The Sentinel slowly turned her head, hidden eyes fixating upon the retreating mutants. She leapt from the car bonnet, making her way after them. Storm turned her head, glancing back with fearful eyes. The Sentinel was preparing her powers again, as her fists began to glow. But then, out of nowhere, a dazzling burst of light crashed into her, hitting her at such a force that she was carried along before the light exploded in a blinding flash. Whilst confused, Logan and Storm continued running, both easily vaulting over a garden fence and continuing across someone's garden.

"What was that?" asked Storm as she dropped down from the fourth fence, coming to a halt in someone's back garden.

Logan was looking around the garden slowly, shaking his head in answer.

But then another flash occurred, this one at the front of the house the garden belonged to. Logan and Storm shared a frown, before they ran forth, running through the house's opened back door and through the ransacked hallway where the front door was thrown back. Out on the street were a small group of Sentinels, surrounding a lone figure that was throwing bright blasts from her hands at each one in turn.

Storm pushed forward, obviously in a bid to go outside and help the woman, but Logan pushed her back, "No, stay out of sight." He backed slowly, and she did so behind him, frowning. Behind her, she bumped into a table and looked round slowly. There was a telephone laid off the hook and she could hear a faint voice sounding from the receiver. Whilst Logan ducked in front of her to block her from the Sentinel's radar, Storm remained low, but pulled the phone towards her, placing the receiver to her ear.

"Hello?" she whispered quietly, eyes rising as she watched the woman still determinedly fighting against the Sentinels. Explosions of light rocketed across the street, low booms echoing and causing the very houses to shake. The person on the end of the line quickly started talking in a desperate voice.

"_Hello? Astral? Astral are you all right? Have you fought them off?" _The voice was male, low and rather imposing if he wasn't expressing such concern.

"No, this isn't Astral," replied Storm quietly. "But I'm a mutant too, I'm hiding from the Sentinels with someone else."

Logan looked round slowly with a curious expression.

_"Astral.. where is she.. is the house empty? She was talking to me.. then she said Sentinels had come for her."_

Storm looked up slowly, watching the woman outside as she collapsed under retaliation and the Sentinels closed in. "Tall? Dark hair? Mutant power, some sort of light blasts?"

"_Yes. Is she all right?"_

The woman outside was dragged to her feet, slumping in the hold. She looked exhausted, and had no fight left in her.

"No.." answered Storm quietly, "They've got her."

"_Damnit," _came the voice on the other end, _"She's a strong mutant." _There was a pause in which the man sighed, _"Listen, you need to get away from there or they'll be upon you next."_

"We need to follow them," whispered Storm, "They've got the X-Men and we need to free them!"

"_The X-Men. And who are you?"_

"Storm."

"_You think you can follow the Sentinels to rescue your team members? Without getting caught?"_

"We can try - "

"_I must go,"_ said the man abruptly, _"Sentinels are coming. Good luck."_

"You too. But wait, what's your name?"

"_Hyphon."_

And the line went dead.

"Hope you had a nice chat," muttered Logan, "but we really ought to get a move on."

Storm looked up slowly as she replaced the receiver on its hook. The Sentinels outside were making their way towards the house again. She speedily turned round, running out through the hallway again and out the backdoor. With Logan close behind her, the pair climbed up a garden fence, leaping out onto a road behind the houses. The Sentinels ran after them, their runs smooth and calm. They jumped over the fences without flinching. Storm sprinted out across the road, desperately searching for somewhere to try and hide, even though they could follow her all too easily. Panting quietly, she made her way across the road, looking back to see that she had become separated from Logan who growled as he fought off oncoming Sentinels.

Unable to leave him, Storm span round, running towards him with outstretched hands. As her eyes slowly turned white, the skies above darkened and began to crackle with the beginnings of thunder. Lightning crashed through the heavens and down to earth in crooked flashes, the Sentinels surrounding Logan were struck and knocked off balance. Logan stumbled back from them, quickly making his way over to Storm and the pair set off running again.

The Sentinels, although delayed, were hardly thrown off by the attack and we soon following after the mutants again. Each were preparing different powers whilst one speedily flew through the air. The flying Sentinel collided with Logan, who was thrown forward with a shout.

As the Sentinel tumbled across the road with him, Storm heard Logan yell, "Just go, alright? Go!"

Storm stared at him fearfully for a moment, briefly glancing behind her to see the other Sentinels catching up. She nodded silently, forcing herself to speed up once more as she sprinted away from the oncoming Sentinels. The lightning filled skies rumbled slowly as strikes crashed down, surrounding her and protecting her from any sudden advances. She could hear the fighting behind her as several of the Sentinels surrounded Logan. Above her, the sounds of a helicopter blades whirred, and Storm looked up to see army officers making their way over. With tears slowly leaking from her glowing eyes, the lighting in the clouds suddenly spread and struck the helicopter in twisting, blinding strikes. The skies exploded into flames as Storm veered course and darted down a small walkway between houses.

She could see a Sentinel-free road ahead, although traffic was passing. She'd have to try. Try and get across. Speeding up as she reached the roadside, she leapt into the air. With lighting and swirling winds surrounding her, she flew far across the large road. The traffic below had already began slowing as the helicopter crashed a few blocks away and now drivers were leaning out of their windows to stare upwards at the flying woman.

As she flew, she head a sudden hissing behind her, and as she looked round, she saw a Sentinel ready his hands at his glasses.. As he lowered his black glasses, blue beams shot from his eyes. The light raced across the stationary traffic and struck Storm squarely in the back. With an agonised cry, she felt her limbs turn rigid. Her display of powers began to cease and she fell head first to the ground, hitting the bonnet of a car and tumbling off to land on the road. She lay on her back, gasping quietly as she remained awkwardly sprawled. Her limbs felt too heavy to lift of her own accord. She blinked slowly as she felt a few drops of rain begin to hit her on the face, eyes straining to peer at the cloudy skies above her. But her vision was blurring and swarming oddly. Sentinels came into view, all looking down at her stonily, each of their stances identical. Their faces began to distort slowly as her eyes slumped closed and everything went silent.

* * *

The X3 teaser trailer is out! Look on the Apple trailer website. I think watching that really inspired me to write this, lol. Action-packed and all that jazz. Go on then, review. ;D


	10. Nothing But A Number

**- CHAPTER TEN -**

**Nothing But A Number**

There was a dull ache that banged uncomfortably around Storm's head. She felt something judder and she slowly raised her head, opening her eyes. Wherever she was, it was dark. She felt her hands shackled behind her back, limbs sore from her fall to the ground. Whatever she was in, it appeared to be travelling, for she could feel movement. Her eyes struggled to see through the darkness, and it didn't help that her vision was still blurry.

Then, suddenly, she heard a whisper, "Storm!"

She quickly looked around, and besides her, she recognised Logan sat there. His arms too were behind his back. Then it slowly came upon her. Both sides of the transport had rows of seated mutants, a lot of them unconscious, but all of them silent as they sat bound and drugged.

"Logan.." she said softly, her voice quiet and weak-sounding. Her head ached constantly. She must have hit it badly.

"You've been out for a while," whispered Logan, "I was worried."

"I got knocked unconscious," muttered Storm, her eyes closing as she groaned, "And hit my head." She blinked slowly before looking around again. "Are these all mutants? All of us have been captured?"

"Yeah.."

Just then, the transport stopped and the pair fell quickly silent. Storm glanced around nervously. They were here, wherever they had taken the X-Men, and countless other mutants.

"Logan?" Storm called softly.

"It's ok.." he answered in a whisper, but tone sounded disheartened and false.

With a sudden rattle, the chains that held every mutant's arms were release from its clasps on the wall. The cuffs around their ankles unlocked as one. At the end of the vehicle, double doors pulls back, revealing a gloomy outdoors, distorted by the heavy fall of rain. The mutants were bound into to rows, all of their wrists still fastened upon the line of chain. The chains were tugged by murky figures outside, and slowly, with dread, the mutants began to walk towards the tugging, those that resisted were pulled off their feet, noisily hitting the floor.

Behind her, Storm felt Logan come up close, bending his head to whisper in her ear, "Just hold on.." Storm looked round at him slowly in silence. He was going to try and break free? How could he still have hope? He nodded his head once before gently pushing her forth before she could be pulled off her feet. As they made their way through the long inside of the vehicle, Storm made a quiet noise of surprise as she heard a rattle and saw Logan's bound wrists pass over her face as he lower his arms either side of her body. The tightened chains quickly relaxed once Logan fell still, his arms cradling Storm's middle almost protectively due to their shackled status. "They forgot something," he whispered quietly and a sudden sound of Logan's exit claws was heard as they sliced through his knuckles.

With a sudden twist of his arms, the chain holding the row of mutants together was cut free. Logan pulled his arms up back over Storm's head and the chains out of the loop in his cuffs. Instantly, other mutants began to do the same with cheers. Logan quickly ran to the opposite row of mutants, slicing their chain into two halves. People were quickly fleeing, even though their wrists were still cuffed together. But they were no longer chained to the guards awaiting them.

"Hey, what the - ?" came confused voices at the opened end of the truck.

"C'mon!" Logan growled in Storm's ear as he ran forth, claws at the ready.

It was futile. They were in enemy territory now.

"Logan!"

With a bellow of fury, Logan leapt at two of the guards holding the loose chain ends, pinning them down into the saturated dirt with the impalement of his claws. Out of the surrounding darkness, gunshots fired and with a roar of defeat, Logan was thrown away from the dead bodies, falling under the barrage of many rapid gunshots. The other mutants reacted in fear. The confusion led to a whole moment of panic, and mutants began fleeing into the darkness. Gunshots and screams could be heard in the distance. Storm ran forward through the crowds, seeing Logan lay sprawled face-first in the mud with bloodied stains marking the back of his vest top.

"Logan!" she cried as she scrambled towards him, hurrying down the ramp and skidding across the puddle-filled mud.

"X-Man! Get her!"

Out of the shadows of the surrounding rain, soldiers closed in upon Storm, grabbing her by the shoulders and pulling her backwards, away from Logan. She screamed and trashed, her feet furiously trying to dig into the squelching sludge. But her feet easily slipped as she was soon dragged away, her cries only mingling in with the furious shouts about her and the patter of the heavy downpour.

Several of the guards surrounded Logan, pulling his limp body upwards. With commands from one of the group leaders, he was dragged through the mud into the large wire fenced compound. Their boots tread through the thick mud, passing across the trails of other previous captives. Some of the mutants who had not got far with their bid for freedom were also hauled in. Whilst they were barely conscious, they were not shot. Instead, each had been calmed by the sedative needles; previously used upon the mutants at the mansion.

Storm was still violently pulled along, even though her struggles had ceased to a enervated limpness. The harsh tugging caused previous injuries to burn and twinge, only making her general despair heavier as tears rolled down her dirtied cheeks. Hair, usually brilliant ivory, hung limp and dank over her smooth cheeks, sticking upon her wet forehead. The rain continued to thrash down, being blown violently as the wind picked up. The drops of water hit like miniature blades, each strike icily cold. The downpour blurred their surroundings, of which Storm could barely make out. Once they had passed the tall wire fencing, a large brick wall loomed up from the deep shadows. Thick gates had creaked shut behind their entry, locking loudly in place. Glimpses of rows of small buildings could be seen in the dark distance, but she lost sight of them as she was dragged upon a steel ramp leading into a small metal hut. Blindingly white light quickly destroyed the darkness.

Each mutant was brought through in a row, whether by force or plain resignation to the bleak circumstances. The mutant in front of her was forcibly brought ahead. She was one of the more active of the captives, angrily screaming and lashing out at every opportunity. It was the same vigour Logan had presented when he had tried to bid freedom. Two guards held her at either arm, struggling against her grim determination that acted with her bare feet. She dug her feet against the stone floor, but was pushed off her feet when a third guard stepped in. With a howl of rage she collapsed onto her knees, this seeming to infuriate her as opposed to the hopeless wails about them. She began shouting angrily, words an exotic tongue of fluent Spanish that Storm could not understand. They must have been unpleasant, for she hissed and snarled, glaring at the men holding her tight.

The woman was abruptly pulled to her feet and pulled forward to a small desk, but she was now refusing to cooperate with her feet and so was merely dragged along by the strength of the guards holding her.

"Hold her still," said a voice behind the desk calmly. Her determined resistance was nothing new to his eyes. The third guard stepped from behind the mutant, the same one who had tripped her. Whilst the same pair held her by the arms, the third guard came to her front, roughly holding her by the face and shoving her closer to the desk. The man behind the metal desk gave her an apathetic once over before he turned an silver appliance to her, thrusting it towards her right eye. She quickly began to pull back, but the tight grip about her face held her still. A sudden blue light zipped from the centre of the piece, which resembled that of a barcode reader. The woman reacted with a cry of surprise, her eyes soon closing. But the man was done, returning the appliance to its stand in front of him. He turned to his computer, tapping a key.

"Ria Alvarez. Astral, huh? Now, 1406."

The woman made an angry sound as she tried to reach forward to him. But the guards quickly pulled her upwards, walking out of a second doorway. Storm felt herself being pushed forward, but something had just dawned upon her. She stared down at the appliance awaiting her before she looked up to see the woman slowly being pulled down the ramp and into an ongoing circular tunnel.

"No.." she whispered quietly, eyes settling onto the computer, "NO! Cerebro!"

The woman being taken away spun round, staring at Storm. Their gazes met, and Storm quickly recognised her as the woman they saw fighting outside her home in New York. Astral. But the woman was forcibly swept off her feet and carried away despite her desperate struggles.

The silver appliance was raised once more, this time facing Storm. She stared at it fearfully, automatically unmoving. They had taken Cerebro. They had the database!

The blue light flashed into Storm's pupil, causing her to give a sudden gasp and close her eyes just as Astral had done.

"Ororo Munroe," read the man in a smug tone. "Storm. 1407." He raised his head slowly, smiling sinisterly up at her. The blaringly white lights above him highlighted the rough surface of his face, causing the neatly clipped dark moustache above his upper lip to gleam faintly, "Sixth X-man member, but I heard the last one was brought with you." He leant back in his chair languidly, giving a nod, "Good, good," he commented carelessly before waving a hand to send her away. Instantly, those holding her forced her down the tunnel Astral had just been brought through.

The patter of rain heavily hit the rooftop of the tunnel, echoing loudly all the time she walked down it. The exit brought them to a small corridor, but she was roughly turned out of it and outside. The expensive electronics that formed the security of the compound existed outdoors too, but the appearance was much bleaker. The mud was even worse here. Squelching rough paths navigating between high cages of fencing, each one guarded by numerous electrics. As she passed she peered through the dripping wet fences, seeing that within each was a metal building, stretching into the distance. These too were monitored by man-made security. As Storm paused to watch her surroundings, she was merely pushed on ahead by her ever-silent guards.

Eventually, they stopped, unlocking one of the fence gates with a series of complicated actions that Storm's barely witnessed. She was then thrust inside, still tightly held and led up to the building within. This then was unlocked and she was led inside, passing a wall sign that simply stated, 'H'. It was like something of an animal pen. A narrow walkway separated wire fencing that reached up to the ceiling. Within each large cage were several mutants, sat drearily on plain beds or miserably watching the floor. When Storm entered, some expectantly looked up, but some didn't bother, perhaps so used to the goings on after their lengthy capture that it didn't interest them anymore.

She was led through the walkway, pulled to a halt as they reached one before she was shoved inside. The door behind her was banged shut and locked before she had even realised what had happened. She span round, staring as the two men walked away, ignoring the feeble cries from some of the other mutants. Besides her cage entrance was a sign identifying the pen as '6'. Storm stepped backwards slowly, turning, she looked around, desperate to recognise a familiar face.

"Storm!"

In the opposite cage, numbered '12' she saw Scott suddenly run forward against the wire of his cage. With a soft gasp Storm did the same, though there was still great distance between them due to the walkway. "Scott! I'm sorry.. we tried.."

"It's alright," came a second voice, and Storm looked down besides Scott to see Charles Xavier sat on one of the beds, his wheelchair confiscated, "I trust you and Wolverine were admirable and brave in your attempts, but it was a difficult task and practically impossible."

Storm sighed quietly, resting her head on the cagewire in front of her, "Where's everyone else?"

"Siren is just there, but she's asleep now," Charles pointed to cage '11' besides theirs before he looked back over to Storm, "The others.. I'm not sure." Storm turned slowly, studying her empty but large cage. Looking around the room and into the cage directly besides hers, she saw that each cage held three mutants. Clearly there were more to come to hers. Logan had been far behind her when they were brought in, he wouldn't be joining her in this cage.

"I suggest you sleep," came Charles' voice again, "You need to rest yourself."

"But Professor – "

"There is nothing we can do, at least without any rest. I do understand your immediate concern for freedom.. but for now I'm afraid that isn't likely."

Storm stepped backwards and sat down on one of the beds with a defeated bow of her head. Her shackled wrists pulled both hands to her face as she covered her eyes with a shaking hands. Soft sounds of sobs could be heard amongst the other sounds of unhappiness around the large building.

"Please, my dear.." said Charles softly as he pushed himself up. He closed his eyes slowly, exhaling a soft sigh.

Storm wiped her eyes slowly, although her burning lids were not quite finished yet. She obediently laid herself down on the bed, staring up at the ceiling of her pen through watering eyes, "What's that?" she asked quietly, eyes meeting a small red light that was fixed above her cage.

"It nullifies our powers, it is in every cage."

Storm merely closed her eyes against the force of hot tears and rolled herself away from the ceiling to press her body against the cold cage fencing. With her hands against her face she cried quietly. The desperation, anger and feeling of failure were overwhelming and disturbing to her emotions.

She could do nothing but cry along with the others..

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Review for me, please!


	11. Priorities

**- CHAPTER ELEVEN -**

**Priorities**

Pain. That was all he could feel. He didn't want to move, he couldn't.

Logan lay on his front in a cell, hearing the footsteps of soldiers walk away from the cage he had just found himself being locked within. His head dazedly lifted from the floor, eyes trying to study his surroundings. But his gaze was sudden obscured by a curtain of black hair and a distraught sob filled his ears. Disorientated, Logan tried to push back the limbs that fought to hold him, seeming to not realise that the touches were soft and warm.

"Logan!" came the gentle voice that drifted distantly into his attention.

Using all the strength he could summon, Logan turned his head slowly, picking it up from the floor. He tried to seek out the scent, but the enhanced world of smells around him was suddenly non-existent. He could only smell very faint aromas that would normally be so in tune with his thoughts. Hands took his face, one warm, one cold; and the oddity caused Logan to look up at the person besides him. Blinking his dazed sight slowly, he saw Aurora sat before him, pale eyes regarding him with concern.

"Your wounds haven't completely healed," she explained softly, "Your powers were stopped when you entered here, so they'll be really tender."

"I wondered why I felt so.. ugh.. drained," Logan pushed himself into a sitting position slowly, feeling the gunshot wounds in his back burn painfully. His healing factor had been working frantically since he had been shot, but the moment be entered the cage his mutation shut down, leaving his wounds partially healed. His vest top was stained by circles of blood, and felt uncomfortable against his injuries. Holding back a wince, he whipped the top off his head, discarding it onto the hard floor. "Where are we?"

"Block I," informed Aurora morosely, "Cage 2."

Logan looked around the area slowly, seeing rows of pens on either side of the large cold room. Just like in Storm's Block 'H', there were three mutants in each pen. The other occupant in theirs was on one of the beds, sleeping. In fact, many of the mutants were, for that was all they could do to escape the reality. "Storm and I were brought in," sighed Logan softly. "That's all of us now. We tried to help but – "

"Logan.. it was inevitable."

"I know.."

Aurora rested her hand on his bare arm, regarding him with saddened eyes; "We'll get out of here eventually. We've got to.."

"Do we ever get out of these pens in the day?"

"Yes, in the morning they let us walk around our blocks for twenty minutes before locking us back up. Sometimes they come and take someone for testing.." she pointed over to where a woman lay on her bed in the opposite pen. "She went this morning.. she hasn't spoken to any of us since she got back.." Aurora fell quiet, glancing at Logan before she averted her eyes. "It's a lot like Alkali Lake now, only there's more of us, and more to control us."

Frowning, Logan placed his hand over hers, squeezing it gently. He knew that any recollection of Alkali Lake upset her, and that this place must be doing it constantly.

"I'm just glad you're here," she whispered softly, "even after everything you said to me.."

"Look.." began Logan quietly, "let's just forget about all that now. It ain't the time or place, is it?"

"But what if we never get out of here? What if we die in here, then we haven't even got time or places."

Logan sighed quietly as he looked down at his lap.

"Last week I asked you if you still loved me and – "

"In a storage cupboard," added Logan, smirking slightly as he glanced at her. That felt so long ago..

"Yes, well," muttered Aurora quietly, blushing a little, "Spur of the moment, thing."

Logan turned slowly, crossing his legs beneath him on the hard flooring. "I said no," he informed, helping her along with the story.

Aurora stared at him for a moment, "Why are you being so calm about it?"

"Darlin', it got put into perspective the minute I was doin' over a hundred mile an' hour through New York, tryin' to escape a Sentinel."

A smile twitched at Aurora's currently grim expression, "Put into perspective in a good way?"

Logan sighed quietly, leaning forward and grabbing her by the hand, "C'mere," he murmured, tugging her over. As she obediently followed, he gently wrapped an arm round her back, pulling her smaller form against his side.

"Great it looks like we got ourselves some entertainment. A bit lovey dovey, but y'know, it's an improvement to watchin' the walls."

Aurora and Logan quickly looked round to see a man in one of the opposite cages, laying on his bed and watching them. He had a smirk on his face and looked quite amused by the situation.

"Excuse me?" asked Aurora indignantly, even though she had heard him clearly.

The man lazily gestured with a hand, "I mean, it's like a lil' soap opera we got here. S'all good, keep it goin'." The man smiled mischievously, pushing his blond hair back from his face gently.

"Who're you?"

"Solar. Or 1279, whichever takes your fancy," he shrugged idly, reclining back on the wall slowly, "Don't mind me, hun. I'm just a very bored person. Man, what I'd give to be back home now. I'm sure there's a football game on tonight I wanted to watch.." he drifted off, looking thoughtful.

Aurora slowly looked back to Logan, the paw sharing a bemused expression.

There was a sudden rattle further down the corridor; prompting Aurora to crawl forward to the barred front of the pen, peering down the walkway, "What was that?"

"Cage 13," informed Solar, "Got a feisty lil' bitch in it."

As Aurora craned her head she could see a green figure nosily ramming against the bars of its cage. Furious hissing followed, a large tail viciously whamming heavy weight against the metal divider. Logan came upon besides Aurora, frowning, "Is that Serpentine?"

And sure enough, the female mutant of the Brotherhood was energetically bashing against her cage doorway, vigorously spinning and using heavy hits of her tail.

"I swear she's crazy," muttered Solar quietly as he ran a hand through his hair, "Banging against that god damn door every time the soldiers come in and then carries on hours after. If she ain't careful they'll take her for terminal experiments."

Logan felt Aurora pull back besides him as the mention of experiments and he turned to her slowly. "They won't do that to us," he whispered softly, "And they'd let us heal if they were looking at our mutation."

"You don't know that," replied Aurora softly, looking down at the floor.

"Earlier you said we get let out for a walk in the day.. when we get out, we'll scour the area, try and get a mental map of this place. Keep an eye out for entry points and the weaker areas. We might even see some more of the X-Men in the next block."

"You really think we've got a chance of escaping?"

"Aurora, our main priority is to get the hell outta of here, not to sit and do nothing. Someone out there is goin' to help us. I know they are.. they're just waitin' for the right moment.."

* * *

I've been working hard at a new website for this saga, and have been deisnging graphics, banners and allsorts of fun stuff! Please check it out at this link **_www(dot)geocities(dot)com/sketty24_**

It also includes an introduction to 'The War Has Begun', images of characters and a 'Media' page of my music videoes! Still a lot more to come, but please sign my guestbook!


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